Retro is making another go-around, in the same way, most things come back around like flares, rockabilly, and cassette players. You could argue of course that some things like this never went out of fashion, but we do seem to have an almost never-ending appetite for retro style.
Nostalgia is a strong force, and some millennials have even decided to eschew ear pods for wired earphones while listening to Prodigy on their mini disc players.
This has always been the case though, our parents probably did the same kind of thing, but now the pull for some is much bigger and stronger, since the old analog world is gone forever, and we hark back to the halcyon days of meeting someone at a specific time with no way of knowing if they were going to arrive when you did.
Renault has decided to look back to look forward and create an interesting concept with the help of TheArsenal team, which may be more than just the sum of its publicity-led parts.
Renault Air4 Concept Takes Off
Automakers back in that analog pre-internet era were already trying to cash in on retro style, with Nissan doing so with the Figaro back in 1991 – this was before Chrysler and the PT Cruiser, before Fiat with the 500 and BMW with the Mini.
So, when we see the Renault Air4 concept - released in conjunction with the 60-year anniversary of the 4L also from Renault - it looks cool, it makes us want one, even if the idea of a drone car still seems 40 years too early from a realistic technological and infrastructural perspective.
It is that new kind of retro – like the Honda E which it shares a design ethos with at least to some people’s eyes – where classic shapes are reimagined with cleaner edges and lines and the LED lights glow in the same place where inefficient glass bulbs used to be.
The difference between the 4L and the Air4 goes further – according to Renault they want to open the skies, a quieter place where we can escape traffic jams and the claustrophobic city.
It’s a nice idea, and other companies like Klein Vision have already made tangible progress with AirCar. That one could go 8,000ft, and fly at 115mph and has done intercity flights too.
This Renault drone goes only 60mph and can reach a bit more than a quarter of that flight ceiling - 2300ft.
Flying Drone Car Could be Sign Of Things To Come
Still, as a concept, the Air4 looks great, and maybe the idea of a drone system for propulsion and flight will ultimately be easy to control, less likely to be dangerous for us absent-minded individuals, and more implementable with its VTOL approach.
In a video where Renault teased the Air4, we can see engineers staring seriously at screens, designers making careful and considered blows to a sculpting block and everything culminates with the vehicle taking off and hovering around in a field.
The thing that really interests after this, though, is the car on top, not just the drone chassis.
Design-wise the car already looks great, it seems like Renault is previewing something different at the same time: a 4L for 2023, a car that would only need an EV drivetrain under that hood, and some wheels too, obviously.
With a potential Alpine R5, the spiritual successor to the Renault 5, this 4L could form the entry-level to an exciting new lineup of cars from a company that has seen many ups and downs in its car history.
For now, the Air4 obviously isn’t a working car of any kind, but here’s hoping it's previewing the direction of where its design philosophy will be taking us in the near future – because like it or not, retro is here to stay.